"Your Majesty, why would you do this!" Machiro wailed.
The Dragon Queen stared at the pale blue magic crystal ball before her without turning back. "What did I do?"
Streams of fire shot out from the crystal ball, winding and intertwining as if alive, like yarn being knitted into a sweater, weaving a suit of armor made of flame around her body.
This was the incomplete "Fire Armor" she had secretly learned last time from Sheep Egg. The dwarf had only reconstructed about sixty percent of it from memory, so Dany had to gradually complete it herself and even improve upon it, turning it into a powerful defensive sorcery suited to her "Creation of Fire."
Even such a spectacular sight of fire as clothing could not move Machiro in the slightest. His face twisted, tears streaming down as he cried, "Why would you do that? Why?
"I only couldn't bear to see eight thousand Tiger Cloak soldiers die innocently in a shipwreck. I wanted to save them, but now I've become the greatest sinner of the church. I have betrayed the true god."
Only then did Dany turn her head, surprised. "R'hllor knows?"
"I have lost the favor of the Lord of Light!" the old dark-skinned man choked.
Dany shrugged. "Congratulations. You've escaped suffering and turned back to the right path."
"Your Majesty, you… you…" The dark-skinned Sherrison stared at the Dragon Queen in shock, as if looking at Satan tempting Judas to betray Jesus.
Dany gave a brief instruction to Irri. Soon, the braided Dothraki maid brought over a leaflet about the size of an A4 sheet and handed it to Sherrison. "The Queen only arranged for the prisoners from the Battle of Meereen to return home, and incidentally asked them to spread the contents of this leaflet. Take a look. Which part of it is false?"
Machiro took it and skimmed through it quickly. His eyes widened more and more, and his whole body trembled.
"This… this is treasonous and utterly absurd!" he said angrily.
"What's absurd about it? Wasn't it you who told the Queen that the High Priest Benerro deceived the believers?" Irri said displeased.
"I…" Machiro slapped himself. "I was bargaining with a tiger!"
"You are walking on the path of light," Dany said with a smile. "Would you rather let eight thousand Tiger Cloak soldiers die unjustly?
"Even if you hadn't come to me, the hundreds of thousands of R'hllor's followers in Volantis are not fools. Sooner or later, they would realize they had been deceived and betrayed.
"When that time comes, the collapse of the faith in the Red God would only be far more devastating."
Machiro froze, then struggled to say, "The Lord of Light has not lost His divine status, nor has He been… Perhaps He is temporarily no match for the Cold God, but He wouldn't be reduced to such a state."
The Dragon Queen said, "You've been on Dragonstone for a few days now and heard many people describe the Battle of Winterfell, haven't you?
"Didn't everyone lament that the Night King had already been captured, yet the Lord of Light was defeated, giving the Cold God the chance to dominate the entire battlefield?
"Think about it. If R'hllor could have held on, why would He fail at such a critical moment?
"So at that time, He must have been beaten to the brink of death. If He hadn't fled, He would have died."
This analysis was logical and well-structured. Anyone who heard it would find no flaw in it.
Yes, if He could have endured, the Lord of Light would have endured.
The Yunkai war god who had been summoned by the Dragon Queen in Meereen believed it.
The war prisoners who saw the leaflet believed it.
Now even Machiro believed it.
"The sun has dimmed, and the Lord of Light's divine power has greatly weakened. His strength has been affected…" The dark-skinned White Lion King's voice grew softer and softer, his expression increasingly pained.
"Even if the great Lord of Light is not as powerful as the Cold God, that does not affect my faith in Him!" he accused sorrowfully.
"Sigh. In life, most things don't go as we wish, but life must go on. Go back and prepare wildfire. Work more and think less," Dany comforted him.
Then she quietly instructed Irri to fetch a papal-annotated edition of The Seven-Pointed Star from her bedroom downstairs.
The Dragon Queen personally handed the thick scripture to the old man, whose despair had reached its peak. "I won't try to persuade you to change your faith, but your current state isn't right. The teachings of the Seven Gods can help you. Treat it as bedtime reading and give it a try."
As soon as the African White Lion King left, Dany immediately turned serious and stepped before the magic crystal ball. A projection of her consciousness crossed thousands of miles and appeared beside the red-haired Lyla.
"Quietly inform Grazdan that there's a traitor among his officers."
"A traitor? Who would still dare plant spies among us now?" Lyla asked in surprise.
"The traitor is someone who can communicate with R'hllor…" Dany shook her head and corrected herself. "Not a priest. The Red God priests among the captives are all in the factories making wildfire.
"It should be a believer of the Red God, likely of high birth, most probably a noble from the Black Wall. He has the qualifications to become a priest, but because of his noble status, he never donned the red robes."
Lyla committed the Queen's words to memory, then asked curiously, "What did that spy do?"
"He revealed my plan to undermine the Red God's church to R'hllor."
"Ah, what should we do? If R'hllor intervenes, I'm afraid the war prisoners won't make it back to Volantis," Lyla said anxiously.
A cold gleam flashed in Dany's eyes as she sneered. "I rather hope He makes a move personally."
"Do this. Hand over the captured scorpion ballistae to Grazdan. Have him disguise them as grain and hide them within the convoy. Also prepare thick oak shields and fishing nets…"
After hearing the Dragon Queen's explanation of R'hllor's weakness, Lyla's face turned pale. She unconsciously squeezed her legs together, recalling that night when Jon stabbed… how painful it must have been.
After a moment of hesitation, Dany gritted her teeth and added, "In addition to the Valyrian steel sword, lend Grazdan a set of Valyrian steel armor.
"And also a priest of the Seven Gods. Select a high-ranking cleric from the Temple of Holy Grace and have him accompany the army in disguise."
"What is the high priest for?" Lyla asked in confusion.
"To preside over the sacrificial ritual," Dany said slowly, a cold smile on her face.
Any demigod could accept sacrifices. It was just that Dany and Drogon were unwilling to taint their divinity with blood offerings, so they had always avoided such rituals.
But after studying the complete set of sacrificial techniques the dwarf had learned from Jenny, Dany realized that sacrifice itself was not evil. What was evil was human nature and the nature of the gods.
Aside from blood offerings, gods could also receive other kinds of sacrifices from their followers.
For example, food.
If someone were to offer exquisite cuisine as a sacrifice to the Dragon Queen, she might indeed expend a bit of divine power in response.
For example, slaughter.
The Storm God and the Drowned God were typical examples.
For example, desire.
Gods that fed on human desire were second in number only to those that consumed blood offerings.
To put it more plainly, pleasure gardens outnumbered temples of the Red God.
Pleasure gardens were especially popular in the Free Trade Cities, particularly around the Summer Sea, because behind those city-states stood the presence of the Goddess of Desire.
The Goddess of Desire was not a single deity. Just as the god of death had forms such as the Black Goat, the Night Lion, and the Stranger, the Goddess of Desire was more like a divine office or domain.
For example, in the Summer Isles, bedroom arts were regarded as sacred skills on par with archery. Courtesans were not looked down upon; instead, they were respected.
Many people of noble birth on the islands would spend a period of time practicing this ancient profession, just as many noble youths of Westeros spent years studying at the Citadel.
To honor highly respected deceased individuals, they would even hold large-scale group rituals at funerals.
After studying Sheep Egg's sacrificial techniques, Dany mastered two abilities: divine descent and sacrifice.
Sheep Egg often projected his will into his followers, and now Dany could do the same.
However, Sheep Egg usually descended into his direct blood relatives, which was more efficient and consumed less power. Over great distances, the cost of descent for the Seven Gods would be extremely high, while the effect would not be very good.
The key lay in sacrifice. Dany and Drogon did not need blood, nor slaughter or desire.
They drew power from eliminating evil and upholding justice, from slaying evil gods and monstrous beings, absorbing their essence and divinity.
Just a few days ago, Dany used the threads of faith to teach two divine arts to all priests of the Seven Gods across the world.
Just like when she first imparted the holy healing spell, as long as a cleric prayed devoutly before the statue of the Mother, they could receive her blessing.
It was somewhat like a system update.
From now on, when priests of the Seven Gods used holy fire to burn the remains of the undead and recited the incantation of sacrifice to the Seven Gods, they could offer the essence of the undead to the gods.
Most of the time, the Seven Gods would simply restore a few spell slots for them. But if a priest was lucky enough to sacrifice a powerful boss, such as a demigod, they would truly prosper. The Seven Gods would reward them with essence, talent, special divine arts, or even sacred armor akin to that of holy warriors.
If things continued to develop this way, perhaps one day in the future, a new profession would rise within the Faith of the Seven: Demon Hunters.
(End of Chapter)
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